March 8th, 2010
It’s true –the most common and terrifying fear in the world involves public speaking. In fact, many professional speakers still experience pre-stage jitters. From sales and marketing professionals to pharmaceutical reps, and from corporate trainers to corporate execs, no matter what kind of presentation you’re making (or what size the gathering), you may feel at least a bit anxious before speaking before a group.
For many professionals, public speaking is a necessary evil. But when you invest some time into calming those pre-performance jitters, the rewards can be huge. Smooth and effective public presentations can mean more sales, higher volumes, better retention, more effective training, and more professional opportunities for you.
In part 1 of this three-part series, we’ll offer some guidance for minimizing (or even eliminating) a fear of public speaking.
You might have heard the old suggestion to just “imagine the audience in their underwear.” In most cases, this is largely ineffective and, at best, provides a massive distraction from what should be your primary focus: the effective delivery of your message.
Truthfully, proper preparation begins long before you don the mic. Try these at-home exercises for preventing stage fright.
As cliché as it sounds, practice is the best prevention for stage fright. Keep in mind, when practicing your speech, your focus should be on the content itself. Be wary of memorizing a speech word-for-word, as you are likely to forget all or part of it and feel stumped (in which case, your worst fear of public speaking would actually come true!)
It’s better to practice the delivery of your key points, rather than memorizing words verbatim. In the next segment, we’ll get into specific techniques for practicing your speech, with an emphasis on eliminating distractions and keeping the focus where it belongs: on the content itself.
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